ipl-logo

Alfred E. Butler Case Summary

525 Words3 Pages

In February 25, 1957 Alfred E. Butler, was found guilty of breaking a Michigan state law that forbids the making, ownership and spreading of, or distribution of any writing and pictures or records that are have offensive language and are not accepted by societal standards. The court ruled in favor of Michigan State as Butler has violated the state law. He lost the case in a vote of 9 - 0 and was fined 100 dollars ("Butler v. Michigan."). The problem with this case is not that he was found guilty; the problem is that the state legislated a law that goes completely against the First Amendment that prohibits governments from creating laws that take away the citizens right and protects the citizens from their government. Butler did in fact violate …show more content…

He has sold books to peoples that were considered to be offensive by the government. In June 24, 1957, Roth was found guilty of mailing his books to people as it violated the federal obscenity statute. The question that was asked in the court was that “Did either the federal or California 's obscenity restrictions, prohibiting the sale or transfer of obscene materials through the mail, impinge upon the freedom of expression as guaranteed by the First Amendment?”(“Roth”). The court was trying to decide whether Roth’s action enjoyed the First Amendment. Eventually, the court declared that Roth was guilty. Roth was defeated in a 6 - 3 vote. The court announced that the obscenity was not protected by the First Amendment. “The Court noted that the First Amendment was not intended to protect every utterance or form of expression, such as materials that were "utterly without redeeming social importance."(“Roth”).The court said the first Amendment was not planned to protect statements like Roth’s. The problem is the First Amendment does not specify what kind of speech is protected or not. It simply says “Congress shall make no law….abridging the freedom of speech” ("First Amendment (ratified 1791”). Nowhere in the Amendment does it specify what kind of speech is protected. In addition, United State also violated its citizen’s right by creating a law (The Federal Obscenity Statute) to limit the speech of the people, which is an

Show More
Related
509 Words | 3 Pages

They ruled that the 1st amendment did not guarantee ultimate freedom of speech and anyone violating the government could be overthrown by the state. The historical impact that the case was made mostly from Justice Brandeis, who stated that immediate serious and evil threats should be the only ones that are taken seriously enough to strip away someone’s granted rights. Brandeis’s opinion was put to use in 1969 when the case of Brandenburg v. Ohio, which is when the court overruled the decision. Yes, there are laws to help protect the natural-born citizens of this country, but if they can be taken and maneuvered to make sure the courts get what they want, why have

Read More
1831 Words | 8 Pages

The Owen Labrie Case Police When the young girl was assaulted on May 30, 2014, she did not come forward right away. She waited a while. This young woman then called her mother sobbing, so the mother went to the school immediately and figured the situation out. Not only were the police investigating the possible assault, but they were also looking at the ritual that these boys had planned for so many years (Shworm, 2015). The senior boys at St. Paul High School would try to have sex with younger girls, particularly freshmen, before they graduated.

Read More
344 Words | 2 Pages

As Holmes had stated there are other forms that are not protected which are known as lewd, obscene, profane, libelous, and insulting words. The case Chaplinsky v New Hampshire in 1942 determined that fighting words and other forms of speech are not protected by the First Amendment. Chaplinsky had argued that the New Hampshire law violated his Fourteenth Amendment which prohibits states from infringing on citizens’ fundamental freedoms and as a result, kept him from exercising his First Amendment rights of free speech. While states are not allowed to inhibit expression of ideas, the Court did not convict him for the expression of his ideas but because his words (calling religion a ‘racket’ and a city marshal ‘damned racketeer’ and ‘damned fascist’)

Read More
963 Words | 4 Pages

Judge Frank requested that the US Supreme Court accept the case in order to clarify obscenity laws in his explanation (Strub, 2013). The case was accepted by the US Supreme Court by Writ of Certiorari and combined with a similar case of Alberts v. California in which State laws regarding obscenity were being challenged. Issue: The question the US Supreme Court was asked to decide was whether or not the Federal Comstock Act and similar Califonia State law violate First Amendment rights of freedom of speech. Specifically for Roth, was the Comstock Act unconstitutional?

Read More
604 Words | 3 Pages

The court noted that the material that Miller distributed by Miller was not protected under the first Amendment. The court said that the materials Miller distributed were offensive to people, therefore violates the California Statute. (“Miller v. California. ")This is a similar argument that is used

Read More
878 Words | 4 Pages

In the background of the case, it was stated that it is the court's responsibility to “weigh the the value of the speech” due to the harm it has caused. It was said that there are many forms of speech and that it should protect by whatever the subject matter is happening. This is not saying that the Circuit Court believes what this man had done was not distasteful but they feel as if they can not break the rules of their constitution. It is said that despite pornography being a serious matter that it's a protected class of speech in politics. The sides of the story went back and forth with information regarding other cases similar to it such as United States v. Thomas; but the fact is some believed that they were going by the constitution and the court is reading the situation as if he did get the speech America promises.

Read More
801 Words | 4 Pages

Not every censorship/ban book is that controversial no matter how many inappropriate issues are in there. That’s why Judy Blume, who is well known for being one of the most censored writers in America, has many of her books banned due to inappropriate content. In the essay, “The Censorship: A personal Review,” Judy Blume gave a much clear approach on how she felt when her books were censorship for controversial things for young adults and children. She even includes her personal experience when dealing with censorship in her early and adult life. In the essay.

Read More
670 Words | 3 Pages

Even though I personally believe spreading hate into the world is one of the worst things an individual can do it is still wrong to try to shut down a person’s freedom to express their own beliefs no matter how disappointing their opinion may be. My thought process must have been similar to the judges on the Supreme Court during this case because the court ruled in favor of Mr. Neal claiming that the law created by Minnesota violated the first amendment of the Bill of Rights denying Mr. Neal’s freedom of speech and creating the essence of censorship by placing this law into

Read More
939 Words | 4 Pages

ANALYSIS Terminating Ms. Murphy, due to a banned book, violates the First Amendment and the Board overreached when punishing her for providing a book for off-

Read More
865 Words | 4 Pages

Censorship of The First Amendment This paper will discuss how censorship denies citizens of the United States our full rights as delineated in the First Amendment. It will outline how and why the first amendment was created and included in the Constitution of the United States of America. This paper will also define censorship, discuss a select few legal cases surrounding freedom of speech and censorship as well as provide national and local examples of censorship.

Read More
884 Words | 4 Pages

Is Censorship Still a Problem? Censorship may seem to be a problem washed away with the First Amendment of the Constitution, but it is actually a rampant problem in some parts of the country, including the masked target of Vonnegut’s letter You Have Insulted Me. Censorship is actually taking hold of many schools elementary and collages alike, from liberals demanding that all “offensive” texts, flags, statues, arts, and writings be banned and kept away to parents wanting their little babies to be kept out of the way of words. The censorship at hand is much like the early stages of what Bradbury wrote about in his famous book Fahrenheit 451 in which, all books are cleansed from the earth through the quick hands of fire. The passages of Bradbury

Read More
894 Words | 4 Pages

Although the US federal reserve has released the information that US citizens have amassed a net worth in the trillions, it is a priceless, intangible freedom that many Americans value most. It was 225 years ago that the First Amendment to the Constitution was adopted into the Bill of Rights: a monumental amendment that would grant Americans their freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to assemble, and the freedom of the press (Bill of Rights, First Amendment). Esteemed film critic Roger Ebert said that it is the responsibility of the citizen to speak out in order to keep our government in check. In an interview with Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive, Ebert says, “I begin to feel like most Americans don't understand the

Read More
501 Words | 3 Pages

Chapter 4 of the book We the People talks about Civil Liberties, this chapter mainly talks about the Rights that were placed in the Constitution (not in the Bill of Rights), it also talks about the Bill of Rights and it describes the rights protected by the Bill of Rights. It also talks about specific rights that work close together with the Bill of Rights and Amendments rights. One of the first Amendments that is described in great detail is Freedom of Speech and Religion. The first Amendment protects US citizens right to talk about almost any topic in the United States. I said almost any topic because there are some forms of speech that aren’t protected by the First Amendment (these forms of speech can be limited or prohibited), some of the forms of speech that aren’t protected by the First Amendment are Fighting Words and Hate Speech, Student Speech, Libel and Slander speech.

Read More
750 Words | 3 Pages

“Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press….” Herein lies the most repeated line in the text. Thomas C. Mackey’s “Pornography on Trial” addresses pornography through obscenity law, a conflict addressed in the Supreme Court since Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire. With the front portion of the book summarizing and analyzing the most influential cases handling obscenity and the back portion providing a brief description of important people and events — as well as case briefs for each case mentioned in the text — the text is a quintessential handbook.

Read More
1026 Words | 5 Pages

As human beings, we are all born with an entitlement of freedom of speech or synonymously known as freedom of expression as it is a basic human right. It is stated in the Federal Constitution and it is important for us human beings to protect our rights to freedom of speech and expression as it is the backbone for a democratic society. Having the right to express oneself freely without any restrictions is an essential part of what it means to be a free human being. Article 10 in the Federal Constitution states that; (a) every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression; (b) all citizens have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms; (c) all citizens have the right to form associations.

Read More

More about Alfred E. Butler Case Summary

Related Topics

Open Document